André Bucher (born 19 October 1976) is a retired Swiss 800 metres runner who ran for Adidas. He is best known for winning the gold medal at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton in his event. Bucher also won the indoor bronze that same year. He was born in Neudorf.

André Bucher
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Switzerland
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Edmonton 800 m
World Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Lisbon 800 m
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1998 Budapest 800 m
Silver medal – second place 2002 Munich 800 m
European Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place 2002 Vienna 800 m

Bucher won two European Championship silver medals in 1998, 2002 and also silver at the 2002 Indoor. Other achievements include finishing third at the 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney a medal was possibly chiselled out of him when he was barged into by his competitor Andrea Longo. While Bucher finished the race in fifth place, Longo was later disqualified.

On 17 August 2001, Bucher posted a personal best of 1:42.55 minutes in the 800 meters. That time currently ranks him as the 17th fastest athlete in history.[1] On that race, he beat the young Yuriy Borzakovskiy by a decent margin. The week after, Borzakovskiy would post the time that currently makes him 12th fastest in history.

Bucher retired in May 2007 due to a long-term heel injury.[2]

Achievements

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Switzerland
1994 World Junior Championships Lisbon, Portugal 2nd 1500 m 3:40.46
1995 European Junior Championships Nyíregyháza, Hungary 2nd 800 m 1:46.73
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 11th (sf) 800 m 1:46.41
1997 European U23 Championships Turku, Finland 2nd 800 m 1:47.13
World Championships Athens, Greece 14th (sf) 800 m 1:46.88
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 800 m 1:45.04 (NR)
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 23rd (h) 800 m 1:52.43
Universiade Palma de Mallorca, Spain 2nd 800 m 1:46.49
World Championships Seville, Spain 19th (sf) 800 m 1:48.07
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 5th 800 m 1:45.40
16th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:06.01
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 3rd 800 m 1:46.46
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 1st 800 m 1:43.70
2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 2nd 800 m 1:44.93 (iNR)
European Championships Munich, Germany 2nd 800 m 1:47.43
2003 World Championships Paris, France 11th (sf) 800 m 1:46.67
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 38th (h) 800 m 1:47.34
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 23rd (h) 800 m 1:47.97

References

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  1. ^ "800 Metres All Time". International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  2. ^ Turner, Chris (13 May 2007). "2001 World Champion Bucher retires". International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Retrieved 8 October 2019.
Awards
Preceded by Swiss Sportsman of the Year
2000–2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by Men's European Athlete of the Year
2001
Succeeded by